Sunset Melodies
by DarkAceKirby
Summary: Sora, Riku, and Kairi live on the beautiful Destiny Islands. As school begins, they meet new friends and tackle new obstacles together. Lately, however, Sora has been discovering new things about his childhood friend, Kairi, every day. As he continually competes with Riku and broadens his horizons, Sora wonders if he will find his way to a happy sunset, or topple into oblivion.
1. Chapter 1- Bustin' Up on the Beach

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, or anything from that company. All characters used in this story belong to Square Enix and Disney.

Hello everyone, I am DarkAceKirby, and I am extremely new to writing fanfiction. Why, do you ask? Well, this is my first fanfic ever written. I was inspired by various other Kingdom Hearts fanfiction (Round of applause in particular for GengaJupite and Redeeming Endeavor, check them out), and decided it was time to stop being a spectator and participate! Please read and review, and let me know what you think so far. If you have any suggestions to things I can improve on in the story, advice for the future, or even your own creative ideas, please don't be shy! Also, criticism is fine, as long as you're being polite.

* * *

**Chapter 1- Bustin' Up on the Beach**

* * *

Riku stifled a laugh as he and Kairi tiptoed into Sora's room. Sora's parents had let them inside the house earlier, and Riku was certainly not going to let his brilliant plan go to waste. After setting up the trap, Riku and Kairi waited for Sora to wake up. Minutes later, the spiky-haired brunet slowly opened his eyes and yawned, only to see Riku and Kairi grinning at him.

"Ahhh! What the freak?!" Sora exclaimed in surprise, accidentally bonking his head on the bottom of his top bunk.

"You're such a dope, Sora," Kairi laughed.

"I used to think that he was dropped as a child, but maybe this is a more credible cause," Riku jeered as he smirked.

"Screw off, Riku. Last time I checked, I had more points than you. The score is 3,582 to 3,581, after your failure of a race. I guess you just can't hold on to that zipline," retorted Sora.

"You threw a coconut at me, you little bastard!" snapped Riku. "Learn to play fair."

"I wouldn't say little, exactly. You're just abnormally huge."

Riku flexed. "I guess you know a buff man when you see one, Sora. Not my fault the ladies flock to me."

"Really, now? I'd better be on my guard, because pretty boy Riku's gonna show me up," Sora said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Kairi watched them. There honestly wasn't much to do but observe the two boys. They'd been rivals for as long as she could remember, and she could never put an end to their arguments. Even at the age of sixteen, the two of them hadn't matured very much, although she had to say that they were even more attractive than they were one year ago. What a short amount of time!

Of course, Sora and Riku were aware of this. Did they care? Nope. Rivalry was an element of life that became an early part of their "bromance". It only intensified when Kairi first came to the islands. They would always race to see who was more deserving of the redhead, although as one could see, their scores were always neck-and-neck. Both of them observed with surprise at how much Kairi had matured in comparison, not only in personality, but in looks as well! She was already pretty to begin with, but…in only a year or so, she had transformed into this gorgeous woman. Desperate guys would always ask her out, then get instantly turned down. It was pretty funny to watch, so Sora and Riku made a habit of saving popcorn just so that they could watch the boys make absolute fools of themselves.

"Come on, boys. Can't you stop squabbling for a minute?" giggled Kairi.

Riku glanced at her, then looked back at Sora. Both boys began laughing, while Kairi facepalmed dramatically.

"Anyway, Sora, the reason we woke you up this early is because it's the last day of our summer vacation. Get up, you lazy bum!" commanded Kairi.

Sora scratched his head. He had forgotten about that. To think, they would all be juniors tomorrow! Ever since the three of them had entered high school, the days seemed to fly by...and now they were juniors. How weird. Somebody needed to tell the clock to slow down, because Sora enjoyed being a teenager. He was convinced that being a teenager was the best point in someone's life. It gave them the opportunity to do so many things, because they actually had free time in high school. Sadly, this fun life couldn't last forever, and high school was already halfway over. Besides not having enough free time, being an adult also meant getting a job. The issue was, Sora hadn't the faintest idea of what he wanted to do in life. Then again, before even deciding on a job, everyone basically had to attend college, which cost a lot nowadays, and money was something that could only be gained by working a job. Sora snorted. REALLY funny, society. I love your humor.

Getting up, he immediately noticed something wrong.

"Huh? Why are my shorts so wet?" He then saw the bowl on his bed that his hand had been placed in while he slept. The bowl so happened to have warm water in it.

There was silence in the room. Upon realizing what had happened, Sora blushed in embarrassment. He then glared at Riku, who was covering his mouth with his hands, trying not to laugh.

"Looks like the score's now 3,582 to 3,582, little man."

"I'll kick your ass for that, after I get a change of clothes."

Sora then went into the bathroom to change. Riku burst out in laughter, along with Kairi.

"Hahaha, did you see the look on his face?" chortled Riku.

"I sure did! You really outdid him this time, Riku." Kairi smirked.

The two teenagers then high-fived each other, still grinning.

After a disgruntled Sora chased a hysterical Riku around the house, the three friends went on their way to their favorite island. The beautiful, almost deserted island, was the best place on Earth to hang out. It also happened to be the place where Sora and Riku competed in the majority of their competitions.

"I asked Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie if they could hang out today, and they said yes, so they should be at the island," Sora explained to his friends.

"Great! This year's Blitzball game is going to be a piece of cake," Riku said. "We'll beat them easily, right, Sora?"

"Haha, yeah. Wakka and Tidus don't have anything on us, that's for sure," Sora chuckled.

Each year, at the Sunset Island (dubbed so for its radiant glow in the evening), Sora and Riku would compete with their close friends, Tidus and Wakka, in a game of Blitzball the day before school started; a tradition practiced since they were little kids. Blitzball was a favorite pastime of the citizens of the Destiny Islands. It had been around for a thousand years or so, and Sora, Riku, Tidus, and Wakka were all very skilled at it. Despite all the bragging that inevitably commenced, they were all just about evenly matched, with one team winning one game and another team winning the next. The competition level was intense, and no one could afford to lose. Sora loved that aspect of it. Who wouldn't?

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Boys."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"OH, I don't know," said Kairi, dripping with sarcasm.

Sora looked at her strangely, then shrugged it off. Girls could be so weird sometimes. He could never understand what went on in their heads. And I'd like it to stay that way, he thought with a shudder.

The three friends walked to the pier, still conversing. The sun shone brightly in the sky, letting everyone know that the day was young, and that anything someone did outside would be absolutely worth it. So, no one was inside their houses. Many people could be heard laughing and conversing throughout the mainland, and the beaches were packed. After all, this was the last day of summer.

After making their way to the docks, Sora, Riku, and Kairi climbed into their canoes and began rowing to the Sunset Island. It was very close to the mainland, so close that Sora could see it from his window. Because of that, it was a second home to him. A place of solace, free from trouble and strife. A place of wonder and discovery. A place of romance and friendship. And Sora loved everything about it…

When the canoes arrived at the seashore of the Sunset Islands, Sora spotted Wakka, Tidus, and Selphie.

"Hey everyone! Glad you could all make it today," Sora said while smiling.

"What up, mon? You ready to lose to me an' Tidus here?" said Wakka.

"We've prepared BIG time for you two, and we're confident of your defeat. Feeling lucky today, Sora? You'll need it," bragged Tidus.

"You talk a lot for someone who has no bite," said Sora, smirking. "Who was the one who got his face smacked by the ball last time?"

"Let's just start the game," said Tidus. "We'll see who's laughing afterward."

Selphie volunteered to throw the ball up. "Now, don't kill each other, okay?"

Whether we'll kill or maim each other is debatable, Selphie, Sora thought with a smirk. This game could get violent at times.

She had to move really quickly, because at that very moment everyone was rushing to the center to catch the ball. "Show me your STUFF!" yelled Wakka.

Sora was already initiating the plan that he and Riku had strategized. All we have to do is bluff until the end of the game, he thought with a conniving smile. Everything had already been decided, and the finale awaiting Tidus and Wakka was sure to blow everything out of proportion. Riku immediately slammed into Wakka and Tidus, blocking them from Sora, who then jumped up and snatched the ball out of the air. Tidus used Wakka's and Riku's shoulders to launch himself into the air, tackling Sora and taking the ball. Tidus swiftly kicked the ball towards the goal, but Riku noticed immediately and dashed in front of it. He threw the ball to Sora, who was then blocked by Wakka.

You are SUCH a pain in the ass, Wakka. I want you to know that.

This went on for a while, with a few successful goals, until the points were 48 to 46 in Wakka and Tidus's favor.

"Not your day, I guess," said Tidus.

That was Tidus's way of being a douche.

"The game isn't over yet, and we can still beat you both!" shouted Riku.

Sora was guarding the goal this time around. His girth wasn't nearly as developed as Riku's, but his agility was sublime and more than made up for his lacking in the size department. Tidus managed to kick the ball to the far side of the goal. Sora dived for it, but wasn't fast enough this time around, leaving the game at a total of 49 to 46.

"You might as well quit, mon. The score belongs to us," pointed out Wakka.

Ignoring him, Riku kicked the ball violently, watching as it smacked Tidus in the face, dazing him and scoring a goal.

Sora was deeply amused by this, but decided not to say anything.

Sora managed to wrest the ball from Wakka and score yet another goal. After the ball was thrown up in the air again, Riku decided to grab it. However, Wakka anticipated this movement, slamming hard into Riku with surprising agility and pinning him to the ground, leaving Riku dazed. Sora shifted his eyes to look at this, knowing that he'd have to step it up.

"I'm surprised I haven't gotten my ass beat yet. Poor Riku!" muttered Sora with a goofy grin on his face. Wakka motioned to kick the ball, but at the last second passed it to Tidus, who kicked it towards the goal instead. Combinations were the most deadly things in Blitzball, and this was no exception.

"Aha!" Sora yelled as he caught it and hit the ball over Tidus's head and into the goal. "What were you all saying earlier, eh?" Foolish fools are fooled by their own foolery! Sora alliterated smoothly.

"This ain't over yet!" yelled Wakka, thrusting the ball with all his might towards the goal. Sora took the full brunt of the shot, gasping for breath as it hit him in the stomach. Damn! I've forgotten how hard Wakka can hit! Urrrgh…Just one more…! I refuse to quit! Sora urged himself to continue, dodging Wakka's lunges. Tidus was the last obstacle, and he had a look of deep concentration on his face, making him seem rather constipated. At that moment, Riku stepped back into the game. Sora and Riku exchanged nods, and then prepared to move. Here comes the big one! Watch and enjoy, guys! Sora thought savagely. Wakka saw this flicker of movement and immediately ran towards the team, aiming to tackle Sora down so that he could grab it again and inevitably win this fierce game. Otherwise, he would have to deal with the agony of having lost their official Blitzball game for the whole year, along with their pride!

But Sora and Riku had practiced a technique for months, mastering the brutal combination and saving it all for this glorious day. Sora passed the ball to Riku, who passed it back to Sora. They continued to pass it back and forth until it appeared a blue line was approaching the goal. Tidus launched himself instinctively as Riku started kicking the ball to the left side of the goal. The ball was too fast to catch, forcing Tidus to watch as the ball again was passed to Sora. Dodging Wakka's attempt at pushing him out of the way, Sora hit the ball to the right side of the goal. These kicks and passes increased in speed and power, until both Sora and Riku yelled, "Ars Arcanum!" kicking the ball with all of their might and using teamwork to propel it straight to the goal, whacking Tidus's groin as it did so.

Kairi and Selphie stared with awestruck eyes at the technique performed by Sora and Riku.

"I never thought that THIS was what they did when I was gone…Wow!" Kairi exclaimed, as Tidus groaned, clutching his crotch in agony. No one paid him any attention.

"They're amazing!" gawked Selphie.

Sora and Riku roared with victory, tackling each other to the ground. They fist bumped a bewildered Wakka and a groggy Tidus, declaring a good game well fought.

"After you four are done with your male bonding, how about we get a bite to eat? I'm starving…" Selphie moped.

"You wouldn't know the first thing about bromance, Selphie," Riku said with an overly serious face.

Selphie pointed her finger at Riku, as if accusing him of a crime. "That's because I don't want to!"

Sora shook his head. Selphie was so ignorant. How could she not see the amount of affection displayed among fellow men? But, oh well. None of this mattered when his stomach was this hungry.

"Alright, Selphie. Let's eat," said Sora in agreement.

Everyone spread out picnic blankets and gathered their food into one spot. A little later, everyone was eating lunch and talking about life. Sora closed his eyes and smiled, with his hands resting behind his neck, as he listened. He enjoyed company; he was content to simply bask in the wonderful atmosphere that his friends created around them.

"So, Sora. What do you hope happens this year?" Selphie asked in an excited tone.

"Honestly, there's only one thing I look forward to about school: mainly, making new friends. It'd be so cool to have this giant group of friends that I can hang out with and go to parties with. We'd be all over the place, haha!" Sora answered thoughtfully.

Sora was right on the money. There was nothing he liked better in life than his amazing friends. Some people might have scoffed at the word "friendship", calling it childish, stupid, and pointless. But to Sora, friends were priceless, and should never be taken for granted. He couldn't get through life without his buddies, and there was nothing wrong with that.

Riku rolled his eyes. "Typical Sora for you. As for me, well, you should all know how much I despise work, work, and what was that other one? Oh yeah. Work. No, I'm not looking forward to anything. If I see any pretty girls, however, I may change my mind."

"Man, I hear you loud and clear," agreed Tidus, biting into a sandwich.

"Tidus, you know we're on the Blitzball team, right? That's something to look forward to, brah," pointed out Wakka.

"Right now, please do not mention the word Blitzball to me. It would be doing me a favor."

Sora looked over at Kairi. She was definitely not in the same world as everyone else. "What about you, Kairi?"

Kairi was startled out of her daze. "Huh? O-Oh…well…I think making new friends. It's a habit of mine to help show new people around the school and get on friendly terms with them."

Sora wasn't sure what was wrong, but he nodded his head.

"And then…if one of those people is a handsome hunk, then you can be on good terms with them from the get-go!" squealed Selphie. "Oh, I am SO going to help you out."

"The more, the merrier!" laughed Kairi.

Wakka stood up. "Me and Tidus, we're gonna do a little exploring today. You know, to the secret place at the base of that tree. There's gotta be something there, ya?" He pointed to a cave next to the seaside shack.

Sora looked at him strangely. "Dude, there's not much in there. It's pretty vacant. And you're telling me that this whole time you've been here, you have never gone in there even once?"

"You never know what might jump out at you. C'mon, guys!" encouraged Tidus.

Sora shrugged. "Alright, but I'm telling you, there is nothing in there." Everyone got up and followed Tidus and Wakka. The tunnel leading to the Secret Place was dark and disturbing. Narrow and twisting, this wasn't a place meant for third parties. It was also debatable whether or not anyone would be brave enough to venture into there. When they reached the Secret Place, a circular cave decorated with jagged rocks and its walls adorned with drawings, Sora began explaining the significance of this particular area.

"Me, Riku, and Kairi have always gone into this cave and doodled on the cave walls. There's this door, too, although we don't know why it's there. But, as you can see, there isn't anything out of the ordinary."

Sora's eyes looked fondly at all of their childhood memories. Most of the drawings were nonsensical, but he spotted one that was good. It was a drawing of him and Kairi, their respective heads facing each other. Just for fun, Kairi had drawn him and he had drawn her. Neither of them were what you'd call art, but to him those drawings were important memories. Riku hadn't even been in there that day. It was just Sora and Kairi...not that it meant anything.

As Sora was explaining, everyone else was staring, wide-eyed, at what Sora did not see. A man with long gray hair was crouched in the corner of the cave.

Upon seeing the teenagers, he began to rise up. His eyes were bright amber, and while he had gray hair, his face was young and masculine. The man was dressed in a cape-like uniform, with black pants, black shoes, white gloves, and there was an opening in his chest area, revealing his muscular chest with a strange, heart-like symbol on it.

Sora continued speaking. "And that's why I said that no one is…huh?"

The man glared at everyone, evil eyes brimming with hate.

Sora's jaw dropped.

"HOLY CRAP!" screamed Wakka. "We gotta RUN, mon!"

No one disagreed with him. They all ran like the devil himself was after them, not stopping until they escaped outside, ran some more, and then finally, opened the wooden door leading to the cove.

Tidus was cursing, and Wakka was panting, out of breath.

"Can someone explain to me why that CREEP was in there?!" screamed Selphie.

Even Riku was looking surprised. "I'd like to know that, too."

Sora, who had stood the closest to the gray-haired man, was the most disturbed. What in the WORLD was that guy doing in the Secret Place? How bizarre…

"I'm…at a loss for words," Sora gaped.

Everyone else who had experienced the traumatic encounter with the gray-haired creep began walking, conversing on what had just occurred. Kairi, on the other hand, was frowning, standing in one place. She seemed like she was in deep thought.

"What's up, Kairi? You seem different right now."

"Hmm…it just felt like, I've seen that man before. I'm not making anything up, I really could have sworn I saw him before…" she mused, tapping her head.

"Eh, I don't think you need to worry about that, Kairi. I've never seen him around. But if he comes for us, I'll use you as a shield, alright?"

Kairi's mouth went open. "You are such a douche, Sora!" Kairi said as she slapped him, smiling.

One of the things Sora loved best about Kairi was her smile. It was mischievous at times, but when she was serious, it was a kind and sincere smile. No one else had that quality, and that's what made her special.

"Hahaha, hey that hurts! I was just kidding. Riku'd be my first choice," laughed Sora.

"Omg, I was thinking along the same lines," Kairi laughed.

"Talking about me already? I guess no one can live 10 minutes with me gone," joked Riku, walking back to Sora and Kairi. "And for the record, neither of you would use me as a shield. I'd take your boats and leave. You can have fun being sexually assaulted by Mister Grayhead over there." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the cave.

Kairi and Sora both made disgusted faces.

"There is no way in hell that I will ever let that happen to me," Sora said with a grimace.

"Umm, yeah. I'm agreeing with Sora on this one," Kairi remarked with an awkward expression on her face.

The three friends laughed together as they sat down on their favorite palm tree, basking in the evening radiance that Destiny Islands was famous for.

"Tomorrow's a new day," sighed Sora. It was a day to see what new challenges would approach…a day in which moved him one step closer to adulthood. And most of all, a day to make lots and lots of friends. Sora had a fresh start, and he would make his dream a reality.

"Yep," agreed Riku. He also seemed intrigued about the next day, despite his claim from earlier.

"Let's do our best to make this year amazing," said Kairi. Excitement flashed in her cobalt eyes.

Everyone smiled, even Riku. That is, until a coconut fell from the top of the tree and smacked his head.

Meanwhile, back in the Secret Place, a certain gray-haired man was chuckling.

"So, I'm guessing those kids are from the high school I was recently assigned to. It'll be interesting to be their principal."


	2. Chapter 2- Hectic Destiny High

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix, or Disney. All characters belong to their respective owners.

Hello everyone. I'm sorry that it took so long to give you this second chapter, but I got lazy and I had a lot of events going on in my life since I'm on vacation. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy the second chapter of my story.

* * *

**Chapter 2- Hectic Destiny High**

* * *

Sora had never been a morning person. Of all his friends, he was, without a doubt, the laziest one of them all. He could sleep through storms and loud noises, and also had the ability of being able to fall asleep on any surface if he so chose to. So, whenever Sora woke up early in the morning, he much preferred to roll over and fall back into the pits of slumber. Sadly for him, this particular morning happened to be the first day of school. Sora's alarm on his phone began to play its loud jingle, forcing Sora to turn it off. Sluggishly crawling off the bed, Sora began squirming his way to his dresser. However, in the middle of his journey, he slumped over on the floor and fell asleep yet again. When he woke up for the second time, Sora felt a tad bit more conscious, and again proceeded to get ready for school. Blindly feeling his way down the stairway rails, Sora haphazardly stepped into his kitchen to make some quick food to gulp down before rushing to school. Upon noticing the kitchen clock, his eyes bulged.

"…Aww, shit. School started already," Sora groaned to himself in exasperation. "I bet everyone's going to make fun of me."

After scrambling through the rest of his morning procedures, Sora ran as fast as he could to Destiny Islands High School, a beautiful and larger-than-average high school where one could see fascinating views of the mainland and the ocean. Of course, those were certainly not the frantic thoughts racing through his head. After carefully surveying the vicinity, Sora swiftly hopped the wire fence and dashed for his first class. The sooner he got there, the better, Sora thought with a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. Double-checking the school schedule, he looked at the classroom number, and sure enough, it matched.

_Here goes, _Sora thought scathingly.

He opened the door of Classroom A397 to reveal a room full of people he didn't know. Sora preferred it when he had at least one friend to fool around with, but here there were no such friends. Sighing, he walked over to the teacher, an aging man with blond hair who seemed to enjoy wearing goggles on his head as an accessory.

"Umm, excuse me? I'm kinda-"

The man cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "Yeah, yeah, I don't give a rat's ass. Sit down and shut up."

The class began laughing, with some people whispering and pointing at Sora.

"What the heck is his problem…?" Sora muttered to himself as he took a seat.

"You're telling me you've never heard of Cid?" snickered a redhead with hair shaped like porcupine quills, who happened to be sitting to Sora's right.

"No, do I look like someone who goes around and makes small talk with teachers?"

"Well, no. You seem pretty out of it. Even so, let me enlighten ya. Cid's about as mean as they come, and unless you're made outta tough stuff, he'll make sure to give you hell in here," the redhead informed Sora.

Sora groaned. Work was _not _something he was very fond of. All he wanted were simple classes, so that he could get good grades without breaking a sweat. But apparently, this year was different. Who knew that Destiny Islands History could be so taxing of a class?

"Why is he like that toward everyone?" Sora inquired.

"Well…apparently, he used to dream about space every day of his life. When his dreams were crushed, y'know, he went downhill from there."

The redhead then turned away from Sora, and continued to chat with his alarmingly large group of friends. Looking to his left, Sora's eyes connected with a dark-haired boy who had a hairstyle uncannily identical to his.

Sora decided to try and make friends with this kid. "Good morning!" he said with a cheerful grin.

The boy glared at Sora darkly, then said in a sharp tone, "Quit looking at me, or I'll knock you up."

"Hey, hey, calm down. I was just saying hi."

"It wasn't wanted or needed, airhead." The dark-haired boy sneered and turned his head the other way.

_The PMS is strong with this one_, Sora thought to himself.

Sora shrugged, then rested his head against his hands, wondering when the teacher would begin talking. He didn't have to wait long.

"Good morning, class. My name is Mr. Highwind, and I will be your Advanced Placement Destiny Islands History teacher."

_Wait, hold on. AP?! _Sora did not recall ever applying for AP. He convinced himself that the teacher had made a simple mistake.

"I'm sure your vacation was just dandy, but I'd like to ask you to stow those blissful thoughts away and shove them up your asses. This year will be challenging, and you'll all be working not _like _dogs, but _as _dogs. Most of you will drop out within a couple weeks, and then the few who remain will also be weeded out, until only a few lucky winners get to stay and persevere until the bitter end. Any questions?"

One student raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"Is there a really good reason as to why you're treating us like crap?"

"Get the hell out. Don't let me see your ugly face again," uttered Mr. Highwind, motioning to the door.

Sora stared at the unlikely phenomenon, wondering how in the world Cid could stay at the school without getting reported or fired.

It seemed like first period would be quite an adventure throughout the school term.

Not long after Mr. Highwind gave his lecture, the bell rang for passing period. As he exited the classroom, Sora again unfolded his schedule and studied it. _Oh, great. It's all the way on the other side of the school…_

Sighing, Sora made his way across the crowded school grounds to his next class. Something felt rather peculiar to Sora about that next class, although he couldn't put his finger on it. Taking out his schedule again, Sora frowned. Since when did he apply Physics to his schedule? Chemistry should have been the thing up there, yet it was nowhere to be seen. He was also pretty sure that he was going to take Algebra 2, not Trigonometry. AP Language Arts was not what he wanted to take, and he never gave a damn about photography either. Even his foreign language class was a totally different language. _What the hell?! Who screwed with my schedule?_ (Sora hadn't bothered to check his schedule beforehand) Sora was not feeling very pleased with his day so far.

After taking three more of his unwanted classes, Sora walked to 2nd Lunch, praying that his friends would be in 2nd Lunch as well. After a few minutes of searching around frantically for his friends, Sora finally spotted Riku, Kairi, Tidus, Selphie, and Wakka at a distant table.

"I finally found you guys! Today has been ridiculous so far," panted Sora after rushing over there.

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Some douchebag thought it would be funny to change my schedule."

Tidus laughed rather hard and began to crawl under the table while struggling to breathe, which was becoming rather difficult for him. Selphie giggled like a hyperactive child, and bonked her head several times on the table on accident. Riku was also laughing his ass off, along with Kairi and Wakka.

"Man, the look on your face was just…priceless! Oh my God." Riku snickered, pointing at Sora, whose face was by now blushing in embarrassment.

"Riku…Do you think you might have overdone it this time?" Kairi said as she smiled mischievously.

"Nah, Sora will be fine. I'm sure he has some balls in there."

_No. No. That bastard of a friend did WHAT? I'll kick his ass for that._

Riku got up from his seat while he was saying this, and began to walk swiftly in another direction. Sora saw this, and chased after him.

"It's 1 to 0, Sora!" Riku loudly proclaimed. (The scoring system between Sora and Riku works so that it starts over each school term.)

"Riku! You are such an ASS!" shouted Sora angrily as he chased after Riku.

Sora heatedly chased Riku all over the school, neither friend conforming to walking. Sora eventually noticed a rather odd sight. Two exceptionally tall seniors were yelling furiously at each other, with gigantic swords in their hands and the look of murder in their eyes. Sora saw Riku turn his head in their direction as well, and then turn his head back to Sora.

Riku mouthed, _"Let's get out of here!"_

Sora quickly nodded his head, because he couldn't agree more. The two seniors' names were Cloud and Sephiroth, and they were feared by everyone in the school. They'd hated each other ever since they applied for Destiny High, and constantly fought to see who was the superior one. Anyone who badmouthed them was beaten up, and anyone who interfered in their fighting was beaten up. But today was a bit different, since they had brought weapons with them to school. Sora knew exactly what would happen if he and Riku were seen: they would be torn to pieces by the rage-filled teenagers.

Their luck couldn't have been worse. Cloud's eyes immediately noticed Sora trying to slip away, and he rushed over to Sora with bloodlust in his eyes. He kicked Sora into the wall, preparing to stab him to death. Riku had also ran into a similar situation with Sephiroth.

_No! You've got to be kidding me. This is bullcrap, I refuse to die like this! _Sora attempted to push off his adversary, but to no avail.

Sora then began trying to reason with Cloud. "Hey man, why are you doing this to me? I never did anything to you! Can't we settle our differences and try to talk this out?"

Cloud's face quickly grew agitated. "Shut up!" he shouted.

Suddenly, Cloud was thrust backwards, and fell unconscious as soon as his head smacked the concrete. Sora looked to see who it was, and couldn't believe his eyes. The gray-haired man from the Secret Place…had saved Sora and Riku. Who the heck was this guy? Grayhead then proceeded to slam Sephiroth into the wall, also knocking the wind out of him. This man…was immensely strong. He had power beyond recognition in the way he took down his foes, and didn't even break a sweat on Cloud and Sephiroth. The gray-haired man began dragging Cloud and Sephiroth in another direction, then suddenly swiveled his head around.

"You two…come with me."

Sora and Riku looked at each other, then hastily got to their feet. As they walked through the most populated areas of the school, people gawked at the sight of the most feared students in the school, with ridiculously long swords, being dragged by their ears…by a strange man with gray hair. Things were getting intriguing. The man led Sora and Riku through a hallway, its walls bearing paintings of the various islands scattered throughout Destiny Islands, into his room.

Sora noticed that this was the principal's room, from the sign on the door. So, why was this man sitting at the principal's desk?

"Sir, if I may ask…why are you in this room? I thought Mr. Wise was the principal," Sora inquired. He had encountered the former principal, Ansem Wise (Or Ansem the Wise, as many referred to him), many times throughout his Freshman and Sophomore years at Destiny High; a friendly, intelligent man of wisdom. So, he definitely lived up to his last name.

Grayhead chuckled. "That man is no longer here. I am your new principal, Mr. Seeker."

"Well then…thanks for helping us out back there. We could have been killed!" Sora thanked Mr. Seeker.

"Yeah, thanks," Riku said.

"It was no big deal. Those two have been troubling everyone for a while now, and I decided to put an end to their violence as soon as I noticed their weapons today. Of course, they'll be taken into custody," Mr. Seeker explained.

Sora's thoughts then drifted to the previous day. "Mr. Seeker, what were you doing on the Sunset Island the other day? We were all really freaked out by your presence, and you didn't seem friendly at all."

Mr. Seeker laughed. "Sorry about that. I was rather surprised to see all of you children on the island of my childhood."

Sora was taken aback. _Whoa, hold on. This guy used to be at the Sunset Island? No way…_

Riku spoke up. "So, you were revisiting your memories? It must have been pleasant."

"Pleasant…? Hmm…I suppose it was." Mr. Seeker said.

Sora could have sworn that he saw a flicker of annoyance in Mr. Seeker's eyes, but it disappeared too fast for him to confirm.

"Well, we'd better get going now, Mr. Seeker. Sorry for the misunderstanding yesterday!" Sora waved goodbye.

"It's fine, kid. Next time, introduce yourself and we'll be fine," Mr. Seeker said with a small smile.

Sora and Riku left the room and the building, then began jogging back to their lunch table. Before they reached the table, Sora had an idea to get back at Riku.

"Last one to the table is a chickenwuss!" Sora yelled.

"You're on, Sora!" yelled Riku back.

Seconds later, Riku fell to the ground with a smack. Sora's leg had done its job.

Sora walked to the table and sat down next to Kairi.

"Where were you two? You've been gone for several minutes," asked Kairi in a worried tone.

"Ah, you know, just playing tag," Sora lied.

"I didn't know that you still played that silly game, Sora," Kairi laughed. "Oh, there you are, Riku."

Riku sat down on the other side of Kairi, but he only grumbled a greeting in response.

"What's up with _him_?" Kairi whispered to Sora.

"Oh, I guess he tripped and fell on his way here, the poor soul," Sora said with an unusually straight face. "And Riku? It's 1 to 1 now."

Riku replied with a rather rude hand gesture. The bell soon rang, signalling that there were only two classes left in the day. Sora's group of friends parted ways, with Sora triumphantly walking to his fifth period. _Ha. Stupid Riku_.

His 5th and 6th periods were extremely boring, so Sora zoned out the teachers' explanations and snoozed until the bell rang for the end of both classes. After school, he then had his schedule modified to fit what the schedule was originally _supposed_ to be.

Sora quickly walked to the school gates, where Riku and Kairi were waiting for him.

"Alright guys, I'm all good for tomorrow."

"Assuming your schedule isn't tampered with again," jeered Riku.

"Assuming you won't eat shit from the concrete again," countered Sora.

Sora and Riku continued bantering, while Kairi rolled her eyes in disgust.

Riku then stopped arguing with Sora. "By the way, guys, we're going to meet up with some friends, since we have so much free time on our hands.

Kairi giggled. "Since when have you had friends, Riku?"

"Heh. Ever since this idiot taught me how," Riku laughed, pointing at Sora.

Sora smiled cheesily. He had indeed taught Riku how to make friends. It was only six years ago that he and Riku had been bitter toward each other. Riku had always been Sora's friend, but when he had noticed Sora making friends with other people, he became suspicious of Sora. This was only intensified when people began to convince Riku that Sora no longer cared about him and Kairi. Riku began asking Sora questions, and started talking to Sora in a sarcastic tone. No matter how much Sora tried to reason with Riku and tell him that he was being stupid, Riku would always shake his head and ask Sora why he had forgotten about him and Kairi. The conflict escalated when Riku, fueled by encouragement from the other kids, punched Sora once. Sora eventually caved in too, and found a good opportunity to sock Riku back. Fortunately for both of them, a supervisor caught them and prevented a full-fledged fight. The principal explained to Sora and Riku that he wouldn't call their parents as long as they made up and apologized to each other. Riku admitted how wrong he was, and vowed to never betray Sora again. Sora only grinned and said that everything was ok. Since then, Sora and Riku's friendship only strengthened, and they never got angry at each other again. Riku also became more open to other people, and soon accumulated a wide variety of friends.

"Sora's such a dork. He always finds something optimistic in a hopeless situation," Kairi said with a smile directed toward Sora. It was more than a smile, though. Sora knew that Kairi was thanking him sincerely for helping Riku out of his darkness.

"I don't know whether to say 'thank you' or 'screw you' ", Sora joked while grinning widely.

"Go ahead and say both, but since you want to screw me, it would be evidence that you're bisexual," Riku snorted.

"Dumbass, that's not what I meant."

"Sounded that way to me- oh, I can see people at the shore."

Indeed, there was a large group of teenagers, talking animatedly amongst each other. This was a common sight, however.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "And…?"

"Well, they're perfect targets for rape."

"Wait, what?"

"I was just kidding, you dunce. They're my friends. C'mon, let's go introduce you guys."

Sora and Kairi followed Riku to the teenagers. Sora thought he recognized a few of them, especially that red-headed kid from 1st period. The redhead noticed Riku, then began to walk in his direction.

"Glad you could make it!" the redhead said with a grin, shifting his gaze toward Sora and Kairi. "It's not every day that I get to meet new people, got it memorized?"

Sora and Kairi introduced themselves.

"I'm Sora."

"Kairi!"

The tall teen nodded to both of them in turn, then introduced himself.

"The name's Axel, got it memorized?"

Sora laughed. "With that red porcupine on your head? It'd be impossible to _not _get that memorized."

Kairi giggled in agreement with Sora.

Axel laughed loudly. "Hey, it's better than your brown porcupine!"

Sora felt stupid. _God, I'm such a hypocrite._

Riku pointed at Sora while laughing. "Dude, you're a dumbass."

_I get it, Riku. Now shut your face._

Axel then shouted loudly. "Alright, everyone! We've got a couple of new friends joining our group: Sora and Kairi. In any case, what I want to say is that I, Axel, will be hosting a pool party at my house to commemorate the beginning of school. It's this Friday, right after school. I'll discuss the food and all that jazz with those of you who wanna help out. For now, please introduce yourselves to Sora and Kairi!"

After Axel's speech, numerous teenagers introduced themselves to Sora and Kairi, but a couple of them really stood out. The first was a familiar face from Sora's first period: the boy who looked almost identical to Sora, but with black hair.

"Heh. Sorry about first period, but I wasn't feeling too hot at that moment. I'm Vanitas."

Sora smiled sheepishly and said, "It's ok."

The other person whose name stuck out to Sora was Roxas: Axel's best friend since childhood.

The spiky-haired blond had a smile on his face. "So you're Sora? Nice to meet you, my name's Roxas. Any friend of Riku's is a friend of mine." He nodded at Riku.

"Nice to meet you too, Roxas!" Sora shook Roxas' hand.

Roxas saw a blonde girl with a white dress on, out of the corner of his eye. "Ah, there you are, Naminé! Come over here!" He smiled and waved for her to come over.

"Umm, yeah? What's up?"

Roxas pointed at Sora. "Introduce yourself, Nami."

"…Oh! I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying enough attention. You're Sora, right? I'm Naminé."

"Haha, it's fine, Naminé! I'm sure we'll be great friends!" Sora said as he smiled.

In his mind, Sora whistled. _She's a shy one, but she's pretty._ "Is it me, or does she resemble Kairi?"

Roxas and Riku stared.

"Umm…what? I don't follow," Naminé said, tilting her head.

_Oh. I said that part out loud. Good job, Sora. Good freaking job._

"Ahahaha, well, you resemble my red-headed friend, you know?"

"Oh, I see," Naminé said as she nodded her head. "Over there?" She pointed to Kairi.

"Yeah, you can't miss her!"

Naminé walked over to Kairi, while Roxas and Riku continued to stare at Sora.

"What?" _What are they staring at?_

Roxas began laughing. "Dude, you're such a weirdo. Who the heck says their thoughts out loud?"

Sora laughed. "I'm sorry, it's just that Naminé and Kairi really resemble each other."

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "Holy crap. I actually agree with you…isn't that peculiar?"

Kairi and Naminé began walking back to the group. It appeared that they had become fast friends, as they were smiling at each other and chatting animatedly to one another.

Roxas grinned at Kairi. "You digging this group so far, Kairi?"

Kairi smiled. "I love it, Roxas. I can't wait to hang out with all of you at lunch!"

Roxas nodded in response.

Riku got up and stretched. "It's getting late. Sora, Kairi, we might wanna head back home."

Both of them agreed, and the three friends waved goodbye to their new group of friends. As they walked home, Sora, Riku, and Kairi conversed about the fun-filled events that had just transpired.

They had finally reached Riku's home. "I'll see you midgets tomorrow," Riku said.

"Just cause we didn't take steroids like you, Gandalf," Sora stabbed back.

Sora and Kairi's houses were a little further down, so Sora got a chance to talk with her.

"Today was so cool, Sora!" Kairi exclaimed.

"You got that right, Kai! You were awesome out there."

"Not as much as you, Mister Porcupine!" Kairi laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sora. Don't stay up too late, kiddo."

"What are you even talking about? We're the same age. But yeah, see you tomorrow."

Kairi smiled and waved at Sora, and he waved back, walking across the street to his house.

_She is one of the most interesting girls on this planet_, thought Sora to himself as he shook his head, smiling. He opened the door to his house, and went upstairs into his room after eating dinner.

_A lot has happened today, and I'm pretty tired. I'd better get some sleep. _Sora turned off his lamp and settled under his covers, preparing for the fun-filled days that would follow.

Just then, a voice spoke.

"You should go for her, dude. She's totally into you."

* * *

**Alright, so there was the second chapter. I packed a lot of things into this one, but it goes without saying that the first day of school is hectic. For Sora, at least. In any case, you can look forward to more and more Kingdom Hearts characters, since Sora just made a whole host of friends. Thanks to Guest for reviewing, and for the rest of you who are reading this, please review and tell me how I'm doing so far. Thanks, guys.**


End file.
